The present invention relates to a tubular magazine for electronic devices such as integrated circuits.
For the production of tubular magazines for electronic devices, it has been common to employ a so-called profile extrusion method in which a plastic material is melt-extruded from an orifice having a predetermined profile depending upon the cross sectional shape of the particular devices to be inserted in the magazine. However, it is practically difficult to obtain a magazine having a thin wall thickness and an accurate dimension by such profile extrusion. Reflecting the minaturization of the electronic devices, the magazine for such devices is required to be made in a correspondingly small size. Especially when such a small size magazine is prepared by the profile extrusion to have a thin wall thickness and a simple profile such as a generally rectangular cross sectional profile, the product is quite likely to be deformed. Further, such a magazine tends to undergo deflection or twisting, and when the electronic devices are automatically supplied from the magazine to a automatic assembling line of integrating circuits, such deflection or twist hinders smooth movement of the devices in the magazine. In order to avoid such difficulties, the magazines have been prepared to have a thickness substantially greater than actually required. Such an unnecessarily great thickness adds to the cost, thus leading to an economical disadvantage. Further, the transparency of the magazines tends to be poor with the increased thickness.
It is accordingly desired to reduce the wall thickness for the magazines. The present inventor has attempted to prepare a magazine having a thin wall thickness by folding a thin plastic sheet into a tubular structure. However, such a magazine tends to be susceptible to deformation when an outer force is applied thereto, and thus has poor dimensional stability.